# Phrases/terms that aggravate the hell out of you **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 26, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894 "2020-10-26T02:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 61
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1207 "2022-10-07T01:45:09Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Doesn’t someone using such non-standard syntax notice it? Someone using such non-standard syntax likely does not recognize it as non-standard. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1208 "2022-10-07T01:57:21Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And then it happens again the next day, and the next, each a “unique” way of so-called communication. Aw, you poor thing, having to deal with a different dialect that is only slightly different from your own. It must have been so hard. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1209 "2022-10-07T04:24:04Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Oh, or “wanna come with” (but I’ve heard Californians say that, too). I’m surprised that’s not a Milwaukee-ism, because it’s certainly a Chicago-ism. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1210 "2022-10-07T08:05:29Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I assume you mean “the” as in a highway - e.g. “the 10”. I can always tell when a movie / TV writer has never visited the East Coast, when a character says “the 95”. It’s “95”, dadgummit, or if you want to be formal, “I-95”. Or if you’re up in the so-called Tri-State area, [“Shirley Highway”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Highway). ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1211 "2022-10-07T10:51:22Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I translate it to “I’m going to Piggly Wiggly (or “the grocery store”). Want anything?”, so my listeners don’t have to. > > I learned that after a friend asked “You’re going BY the store? On your way to somewhere else?” I think your friend was intentionally pulling your chain, teasing you a bit. That or they’re an idiot. Either way, appealing to the lowest common denominator is boring. Where I’m from, you’re gonna go make groceries. The first time or two might be as confusing as goin’ down by the pig, but after that, everybody gets it, and pretty soon, it becomes commonplace. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1212 "2022-10-07T12:24:27Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > and pretty soon, it becomes commonplace. B-b-but then, the English language changes! Someone fetch me mah fainting chaise, ah believe ah have the vapors! ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1213 "2022-10-07T13:57:20Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Or if you’re up in the so-called Tri-State area, [“Shirley Highway”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Highway). Quite true. I heard that on occasion when we first moved here. 30+ years ago. It’s not commonly used any more, and I suspect a newer resident would be puzzled to hear that term. In the past 5 years, the area is occasionally referred to as the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia). It hasn’t really caught on widely but I no longer think “what does the Department of Motor Vehicles have to do with (whatever)”. “The 95”: two examples that stick in my mind are in an episode of The X files, and the Brendan Fraser version of Journey to the Center of the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1214 "2022-10-08T15:05:17Z")
“Bougie”. Seems to be a synonym for posh/snazzy, but every time I see it I think someone misspelled “boogie”. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1215 "2022-10-08T16:02:18Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > “Where you at?” I hear this all the time: “Where are you **at**?” Am also thinking it’s a regional thing. Why not ask, “Where are you?” ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1216 "2022-10-08T17:39:20Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I hear this all the time: “Where are you **at**?” Am also thinking it’s a regional thing. > > Why not ask, “Where are you?” It’s pretty widespread throughout the US. Why would someone say Where are you at? Because that’s what they’re used to saying. Okay, but why would people have started saying that in the first place? Coupla reasons, I think. One is that it goes with other similar questions like Where are you from? Second is that it changes the cadence of the sentence, moving the emphasis from the verb (Where are you?) to the preposition (Where are you at?). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1217 "2022-10-08T19:32:14Z")
And “where you at?” Goes better in a lot of song lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1218 "2022-10-08T19:33:04Z")
_“I need you to do xxxx”_. No, you **want** me to do xxx. Your needs, and your wants, are two different things. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1219 "2022-10-08T19:48:43Z")
This is exactly it. Spoken English is very sloppy. People are more likely to use “where’re you at” which is aurally indistinguishable from “where you at”. “Where are you?” tends to emphasize the “are” in a way that sounds more like “where the fuck are you?” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1220 "2022-10-09T14:30:25Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > One is that it goes with other similar questions like Where are you from? Second is that it changes the cadence of the sentence, moving the emphasis from the verb (Where are you?) to the preposition (Where are you at?). Good points. “Where are you at?” is redundant, sure, but redundancy isn’t wrong and it sometimes makes for greater clarity. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1221 "2022-10-10T06:45:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > “Where are you at?” is redundant, sure, but redundancy isn’t wrong and it sometimes makes for greater clarity. One of my favorite words is one I learned in a linguistics class: [_reduplication_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1222 "2022-10-10T06:50:44Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > One of my favorite words is one I learned in a linguistics class: [_reduplication_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication). reduplication is not redundancy. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1223 "2022-10-10T11:05:05Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > reduplication is not redundancy. I know. But look at the word itself with _re_ and _duplication_. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1224 "2022-10-10T15:52:16Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > But look at the word itself with _re_ and _duplication_. D’oh! … ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1225 "2022-10-10T17:46:19Z")
I keep hearing (and seeing in print) people say, “I am bias,” when they mean biased. Grates on my ears! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1226 "2022-10-10T18:23:27Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > “I am bias,” I feel like I hear this pattern a lot, in which the “-ed” ending gets elided when there’s a difficult consonant cluster. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894.md?page=60) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894.md?page=62)